One of the more interesting ideas creator Shigeru Miyamoto mentioned during his E3 roundtable was Woohoo Island. It’s the name he’s given to the setting of Wii Sports Resort. Those who have eagle eyes will notice that the fictional place… Continue Reading →

One of the more interesting ideas creator Shigeru Miyamoto mentioned during his E3 roundtable was Woohoo Island. It’s the name he’s given to the setting of Wii Sports Resort. Those who have eagle eyes will notice that the fictional place is the same area you run inWii Fit.

Both games have the same lighthouse and windmills. I suppose this is Miyamoto’s Yoknapatawpha County. It’s the idea of a setting recurring throughout games and being as important as a character.

I had a chance to spend some time in Miyamoto’s fictional island playing a few games in the upcoming Wii Sports Resort, the follow-up to Wii Sports. The sequel sports new games like basketball, swordplay and table tennis, but the big change is the Wii Motion Plus, a new peripheral that adds more fidelity to the Wii’s motion-sensing technology. It tracks one-to-one movement so that players can actually aim a bow and arrow or move a virtual skydiver and see the results perfectly translated on screen.

I played two games: swordplay and basketball. Both worked well and are great party games. With swordplay, Wii Sports Resort pits you and a friend or computer in a fight with wooden swords. Swing the Wii Remote horizontally and you’ll make horizontal swing of the sword. Slash down and the movement is mimicked on screen. Surprisingly, the game even detects lunges.

I played against the folks with Nintendo, and I did fairly well winning two of the three rounds by knocking my opponent off a platform. It’s almost like the sword fighting you did as a kid. I got into the habit of waggling around madly, and it seemed to work well. But I expect constantly lunging won’t get you far against a fencing expert.

The other minigame I played was the 3-point shooting contest. Set up like the one in the NBA All-Star game, players pick up a ball with the a button and they’ll have to make a shooting motion with the Wii remote. Other than picking up the ball, there’s no other button pressing. There’s no awkward gesture. It’s just a set shot and a follow through with the Wii Remote in your hand.

It works amazingly well, and once you get in rhythm, you feel like Craig Hodges or Larry Bird. As you work your way around the different racks, you can take your time with the money ball.

But be sure not to linger too long because the event is timed and you have to make as many shots as possible within the limit.

A couple of important announcements hit the InterWebs today. The most important of which is the new Rock Band. It was unintentionally hinted at during GDC, and today, Harmonix officially announced that yes, there is going to be a Lego… Continue Reading →

A couple of important announcements hit the InterWebs today. The most important of which is the newRock Band. It was unintentionally hinted at during GDC, and today, Harmonix officially announced that yes, there is going to be a Lego Rock Band. From the press release:

LEGO Rock Band combines the multiplayer music experience of Rock Band® with the fun, customization and humor of the LEGO videogame franchise packed with brilliant chart-topping songs and classic favorites suitable for younger audiences.

The second piece of news is the launch date for Tim Schafer’s Brutal Legend. Double Fine and company is going to turn October into Rocktober (nifty turn of the phrase there) with the release of the heavy metal-inspired adventure game. It’s going to roxors your soxors on Oct. 13.

And lastly, Danny will be happy to find out that Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for the Wii will include the much-ballyhooed Wii Motion Plus when it’s released in June. Now, we can finally put to rest the idea that there are no games for the peripheral. Actually, we’ll have one. In Europe, they’re getting two (lucky them). The Wii Motion Plus will also be packaged with Grand Slam Tennis across the pond.

]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/04/21/lego-rock-band-coming-brutal-legend-dated-and-wii-motion-plus-pack-in/feed/2LRB_All_LogoStacked_NA_f.jpgHas Nintendo used up all its good Wii ideas?http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/08/05/has-nintendo-used-up-all-its-good-wii-ideas/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/08/05/has-nintendo-used-up-all-its-good-wii-ideas/#commentsTue, 05 Aug 2008 22:36:42 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/videogames/?p=964

One of the more interesting things to come out of the Wall Street Journal interview with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata (other than the mention of the cheap Wii Motion Plus price) is the impression that the well has run dry… Continue Reading →

If you read his answers, it sounds as if Nintendo is going back to the drawing board and furiously working on new ideas to keep pace. Obviously, its E3 media briefing was a underwhelming. There wasn’t anything that wowed the audience. And other than Wii Speak and Wii Motion Plus, there doesn’t seem to be anything else to point to in the future.

So does this mean after these final two peripherals come out, players will have to endure a Wii drought. If Nintendo needed its third-party developers to come in to save the day, it looks like now would be the best time. It’s the only way for the company to avoid the long drought between major titles that had plagued its previous two consoles.

Having used its big guns so early in the cycle, Nintendo did create a good base, but I wonder if it’s strong enough to hold and keep players loyal while the Nintendo EAD recharges its creative juices.

Or perhaps, Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto and company have something bigger up their sleeves. At the end of the Wall Street Journal interview, Iwata did end with a hopeful sign for the Nintendo faithful. There is a next next-gen system in the works.

But being Nintendo, nothing is ever clear. Here’s what Iwata said:

The hardware team started work on the next thing as soon as they were done with their previous project, but what they think up doesn’t necessarily become a product. We only turn something into a product after it’s been thoroughly vetted inside the company. We’re not at a point where we can give specifics, but of course we’re working on it.

So you own a couple Wiimotes, bought nunchucks for them, grabbed a couple classic controllers, some WiiWheels, a Balance Board or two, a Wii Zapper and are saving up for the recently announced camera and Motion Plus. Congratulations! That $250… Continue Reading →

So you own a couple Wiimotes, bought nunchucks for them, grabbed a couple classic controllers, some WiiWheels, a Balance Board or two, a Wii Zapper and are saving up for the recently announced camera and Motion Plus. Congratulations! That $250 console cost you more than a PS3.